Challenges will always be there. But looked up to them not
only as stumbling block but a stepping stone toward success

.-- Bohol
Gov. Edgar M. Chatto

C HICAGO (FAXX/jGLi) – President Barack Obama had just acquired top-of-the-line
Samsung teleprompters that almost nobody noticed during the past month because
of its “ultra-thin” screen and despite its “brighter text.” (A teleprompter is
a through-the-glass device that projects a speaker’s script but is out of
public view.)

They should serve Mr. Obama well since
he does not want to misspeak again after he did an encore of his oath of office
in 2009 when U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts initially
misplaced the word “faithfully” in his oath out of “abundance of caution” so
nobody can doubt the legitimacy of his official acts.

On the other hand, some government
officials like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who may not be comfortable using
teleprompters or who may not be able to afford to have one, would just have to
be content with scribbling down some “bullet points” in the palm of her hand
and glance at them from time to time.

Apparently, these challenges faced by
ranking government officials like Mr. Obama and Governor Palin and other
speakers so they will not flub in their speeches are nothing new.

But a Philippine government official –
Bohol Gov. Edgar M. Chatto -- had made such challenges look very easy when he
delivered a 30-minute speech in English in deference to some non-Boholano
guests. He delivered his speech without teleprompter, notes nor “bullet points”
written in the palm of his hands.

Thanks to an invitation extended to me
by Mr. Chatto’s kababayan, Rey
Anub Juan, from Bilar, Bohol, an “innoventorpreneur” (innovator-inventor-enterpreneur) from from Toronto’s
suburb of Brampton, Canada, who asked me to attend their international
convention of the Confederation of Boholanos in U.S.A. in Canada (CONBUSAC)
last July 6 in Chicago, Illinois, I was able to watch up close an interesting and impressive speech.

ESL SPEAKER CAN HOLD THE FORT WITH EFL

Governor Chatto has proven that a
Filipino, whose English is a second language, can hold a candle to deliver a
speech in English extemporaneously with any speaker, whose first language is
English, if not the only language.

I only wanted to catch a short and
interesting sound bytes and visuals from Gov. Chatto’s speech. But when I
noticed that he was delivering a speech without reading any notes, it piqued my
interest to focus my video cam on him a little bit longer. Before I knew it, he
ended his speech after 30 minutes.

Mr. Chatto repeated the same phenomenon
when he administered the oath of office of the officers of Conbusac without
reading a copy of the oath of office.

Quoting Herbert Marshall Macluhan, a
Canadian philosopher of communication theory, Governor Chatto said, “The medium
is the message.” He explained the meaning of the quote by saying that a speaker
does not have to deliver “a long speech. Our presence is a message in itself.”

In inspiring his fellow Boholanos to
lead, Mr. Chatto defined leadership as “shared leadership. Not leadership with
one person but shared leadership.“ He quoted a great Chinese philosopher, Lau
Tzu, who defined shared leadership by saying, “to lead the people, walk behind
them.” This quote reminded me of the critics of Mr. Obama during the last
elections. They accused the President of “leading from behind.” But the criticisms
did not stick as Mr. Obama was re-elected. Thus, validating Lau Tzu’s
philosophy.

SHARED LEADERSHIP

Calling leadership as a gift from God,
Mr. Chatto said, “For man to develop and share with others is a great
responsibility by the government.

“We have shared leadership in Conbusac,
in Bohol, and shared leadership in other places of the globe. Shared leadership
is getting involved in things that bring mutual interest in a common understood
and collective dream of making Bohol the province we want to make out of the place that we dream of the province.”

He reminded the guests at the Gala
Night that Boholanos are brave warriors exemplified by Daguhoy, who launched
the longest Philippine rebellion – 90 years – against Spain. But Boholanos are
also friendly types as shown by Datu Sikatuna, who forged the first
international treaty with the West, when he agreed to a blood compact with
Spanish explorer Miguel Lopez de Legazpi.

The blood compact has now taken a life
of its own as it is now promoted as a tourism come-on when Tagbilaran City
celebrates the Sinulog Festival every
July.

While Chocolate Hills in Bohol are the
hands-down No. 1 tourist attraction in the province, Mr. Chatto also reminded
the guests that a Boholano in Carlos P. Garcia had placed Bohol in the
political map by getting elected as the eighth President of the Republic.

I believe President Garcia’s “Filipino First
Policy” that was mocked during his time actually endeared him to Filipinos when
he set the groundwork to cut short the terms of the U.S. Military Bases from 99
to 25 years. The terms were later terminated in 1992.

CAN EMC DO AN FDR?

When this columnist asked Mr. Chatto if
he has dreams of following the footsteps of Garcia although he has physical
challenges as a polio victim survivor, he demurred by saying, a polio victim,
like him, should not be hindered from dreaming in occupying Malacanang someday.

He was probably drawing inspiration
from a portion of his speech, where Mr. Chatto quoted Hemingway as saying, “A
kite can never fly higher unless it soars against the wind. The wind will
always be there but the challenges will also give you the best opportunity to
rise higher than your dreams.”

A member of President Aquino’s Liberal
Party, the 53-year-old Mr. Chatto has enviable credentials – a lawyer (from
Ateneo Law School) with a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of
the Philippines and had attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at
Harvard University.

He was also a Bohol board member, a (Balilihan) town mayor (adjudged most
outstanding mayor of the Philippines in 1991), a three-term congressman, a vice
governor (adjudged most outstanding vice governor in 1997), a re-elected
governor whose province was adjudged the Best Governed Province in the Philippines
by the Department of Interior and Local Government under the revered and iconic Sec. Jesse Robredo a year after he took office.
What more can you ask?

If Mr. Chatto has no skeleton in his
closet, President Aquino should include him in the short list of vice
presidentiables or presidentiables in 2016!

After all, Mr. Chatto is articulate –
he is capable of delivering an extended speech extemporaneously that makes
sense.

Although Edgardo Migrino Chatto (EMC)
is a polio survivor, this disability that afflicted Franklin Delano Roosevelt
(FDR), who became the first and only U.S. President to be re-elected the
unprecedented four times, should not be considered a challenge but a stepping
stone to his success! (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net) # # #